Over two months after a 10-year-old child was found hanging from the window of her house in Kollam district of Kerala, the police have made their first arrest. The girl’s grandfather has been arrested for sexual abuse.

Victor, 65, was in police custody for the last four days and was being questioned in connection with the death. Along with him, the victim’s mother and 8 other relatives were being questioned by the police.

Victor was charged under POCSO.

According to reports, the victim’s elder sister and grandmother (Victor’s wife) had given statements to the police that the victim and her mother had repeatedly complained about Victor.

And while he has been arrested for abuse, the police claim that the child killed herself, despite questions being raised over this theory.

The girl was found hanging from the window of her house on January 15. The post mortem report indicated that the girl was subjected to sexual assault as she had over 22 injuries on her legs, thighs and in her genital area. The report says the death was due to hanging. The doctor who did the post-mortem had clarified to the police that the child was subjected to sexual abuse two days before her death.

A note was found near her body, claiming that the problems inside her family led her to commit suicide, and that no one was responsible for the death. Though the authenticity of the letter was challenged earlier, now police claim that it was written by the girl herself.

For over two months, the police have been inactive in the case, and they did not take anyone into custody even after the post-mortem report came out. Though there were clear indications of sexual assault, many people allege that the police did not carry out an investigation.

On March 15 following the pressure from various protesters and media, police took the accused into custody.